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2010 AMC 12B Problem 22

Problem 22 of 25HarderAlgebraGeometry

Let ABCDABCD be a cyclic quadrilateral. The side lengths of ABCDABCD are distinct integers less than 1515 such that BCCD=ABDA.BC\cdot CD=AB\cdot DA. What is the largest possible value of BD?BD?

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Solution

Let a=AB,a=AB, b=BC,b=BC, c=CD,c=CD, d=DAd=DA and k=bc=ad.k=bc=ad. Writing each triangle’s area in terms of the circumradius and using [ABC]+[CDA]=[ABC]+[CDA]= [BCD]+[ABD][BCD]+[ABD] gives (ab+cd)AC=2kBD.(ab+cd)\cdot AC=2k\cdot BD. Ptolemy’s theorem gives ACBD=ac+bd.AC\cdot BD=ac+bd. Eliminating AC,AC, BD2=(ac+bd)(ab+cd)2k=12(a2+b2+c2+d2). \begin{aligned} BD^2 &=\frac{(ac+bd)(ab+cd)}{2k} \\ &=\frac12\left(a^2+b^2+c^2+d^2\right). \end{aligned} The sides are distinct integers below 1515 with bc=ad,bc=ad, so neither 1111 nor 1313 can appear (each is prime and would need a matching factor on the other side). If the largest side is at most 12,12, the four squares sum to at most 122+102+92+82=389,12^2+10^2+9^2+8^2=389, because 1111 is unavailable. Now suppose the largest side is 14,14, and write the others as s1>s2>s3.s_1\gt s_2\gt s_3. The product condition must pair 1414 with s3,s_3, so 14s3=s1s2.14s_3=s_1s_2. Hence one of s1,s2s_1,s_2 equals 7.7. If s1=7,s_1=7, the sum of squares is less than 142+72+62+52=306.14^2+7^2+6^2+5^2=306. If s2=7,s_2=7, then s1=2s3,s_1=2s_3, so the largest possibility is (s1,s2,s3)=(12,7,6).(s_1,s_2,s_3)=(12,7,6). Thus 2BD2=142+122+72+62=425, \begin{aligned} 2BD^2 &=14^2+12^2+7^2+6^2 \\ &=425, \end{aligned} so BD4252.BD\le\sqrt{\dfrac{425}{2}}. Equality is attained by the cyclic quadrilateral with side order (a,b,c,d)=(14,12,7,6),(a,b,c,d)=(14,12,7,6), for which bc=ad=84.bc=ad=84. Thus, the correct answer is D.

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Concepts: cyclic quadrilateral · Ptolemy’s Theorem · optimization

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